Essential NetTools is a suite of network scanning, management and troubleshooting tools.
The program opens with its graphical NetStat, a table listing all open network connections: the process, protocol, ports, local and remote IPs, connection state, host name and more.
You also get Ping and TraceRoute tools, of course, for checking the connection to your chosen IP address or host name.
A simple Wifi Manager displays your wireless adapters, gives easy access to connection profiles and allows you to manually connect or disconnect as required.
SysFiles provides a simple viewer and editor for your Hosts, LMHosts, Networks, Protocols and Services files.
Straightforward NetBIOS and TCP port scanners can check your entire network for connected devices, reporting on their names, workgroups, IP and MAC addresses.
Other tools list and monitor shares, check that a network device is still connected and working, convert IP addresses to host names, locate SNMP devices, check if an IP address is included in various blacklists, and more.
Verdict:
Essential NetTools is a strong all-round suite. Some individual tools are better than the stand-alone competition (NetStat is particularly useful), but you also get features which other toolkits ignore (IP blacklist checking, verifying an email address via SMTP).
Your Comments & Opinion
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